NATO: 3 Western advisers killed in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — The three civilian police training contractors killed by an Afghan policeman over the weekend have been identified as two Americans and a British citizen, Afghan and NATO officials said Monday.

The shooting took place at a training academy in western Afghanistan, the officials said.

There were several other violent incidents around the country, some involving NATO forces, underlining the continuing volatility of Afghanistan as foreign forces prepare to wrap up their combat role by the end of 2014.

In one incident, a NATO service member was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan. No details were released, but the death brought the number of foreign forces killed this month to 33 and a total of 248 this year.

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Also, the NATO official said two service members with the U.S.-led coalition were wounded on Monday when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in northern Afghanistan.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the two incidents are still under investigation.

Four Afghan policemen were killed when a roadside bomb exploded next to their pickup truck in northern Baghlan province, according to deputy provincial police chief Sayed Zaman Hussaini.

Sunday’s killing of the three contractors occurred at a training academy 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the western city of Herat.

Afghan security forces or militants dressed in their uniforms have been killing a rising number of coalition forces, but they have not been specifically targeting civilian contractors working for the coalition. So far this year, 26 foreign troops have been killed in this type of attack.

Earlier, two Afghan police officials in Herat said that initial reports indicated that all three of the victims were Americans. That turned out to be incorrect. The officials also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case to reporters.

They said two other people were wounded — an Afghan translator and a fourth civilian adviser whose nationality was not released.

The officials said that the gunman graduated from the police training center 1 1/2 years ago and was assigned to the center’s protection unit. He was killed by soldiers after he opened fire on the civilian trainers inside a hall at the training center, they said.

Last year there were 21 fatal attacks by uniformed Afghans that killed 35 coalition service members, according to coalition figures. That compares with 11 fatal attacks and 20 deaths the previous year. In 2007 and 2008 there were four attacks and four deaths altogether.